Masks
by Empress Empoleon
Summary: She's living behind a mask. / Cho, Cedric, and letting their masks fall. .:For caitie:.


_For caitie over on LJ!_

* * *

She's only fifteen, yet she reckons she already knows quite enough about the way boy's minds work.

They're shallow. Some are filthy, but all are shallow, knee-deep at most, only looking at the reflection on the water but not at what's on the inside. They only want prettiness, something nice to look at.

She knows that by now. So she plays along, tying her hair up in bows and letting it down in curls and applying make-up so well it looks natural, like she's an angel when really she's just a liar.

She's living behind a mask.

* * *

She's only fifteen, yet she's already built herself a reputation.

Cho Chang, the ice queen. The heart breaker.

Boys whisper about her. She knows all the stories; how she's emotionless, pretty and absolutely perfect, how she has all the guys wrapped around her little finger, how hard it is to get her on a date but oh how _amazing _it is if you do.

Apparently she's quite the kisser.

She remembers when she used to dream about love, though, like any other little girl. She used to dream that she'd go to a masquerade ball, and a man would ask her for a dance. She wouldn't know who it was, except for that his voice would be deep and his eyes stormy and his hands large and comforting.

They'd dance and he'd dip her and kiss her and they'd live happily ever after.

She'd long given up on that though.

* * *

Cedric Diggory. He's as nice as he was handsome; the girls say he is dripping with good looks and kindness, the kind of guy that is so sugary perfect you almost couldn't stand it.

He's hot news around the castle because he's one of the Champions in the Tri-Wizard cup; and now even hotter because the Yule Ball is coming up and he's yet to ask a girl out.

Every girl wants him, except her.

She's had quite enough of boys, thank you very much.

"Cho?" His voice is low and husky on her neck, and if she were any other girl she probably would have swooned.

"Yes?" She asks, turning in a way that would let her long silky hair brush across him. She had guessed it was Cedric, and she is proved right when the dirty blonde smiles at her.

"Could I have a word?" he asks, and she nods, the people in the corridor erupting in whispers.

He looks both ways, before grabbing her arm and pulling her into a room behind a portrait, shutting the picture behind him. The room is small and stone and dark, save for a single torch. It's perfect for a private conversation.

"I was wondering if you'd like to be my date to the dance," he confesses, staring down at her. She gazes at him defiantly, trying not to smirk.

"Why me? Why not any other girl? They all love you, you know," she answers.

"Because you captivate me. I can't help but think about you every day now. The way you walk, the way you talk, the way you laugh - it's all I can see now. Just you. It has to be you. I-"

"This is so fake," she laughs. She's seen enough confessions to her by now to know that this isn't genuine.

He stares at her for a moment, before breaking into laughter. "I'm surprised you could tell. I practiced pretty hard to make that look real."

"Oh please. That was so out of the blue and unbelievably sugarcoated that it couldn't be real," Cho replies, laughing - not giggling, but laughing, because the situation was so unbelievably hilarious.

"I still want you to be my date to the ball though," he says, seriously.

"Why me? For real," she says.

"Because I know you're just like me," he says.

"I'm _nothing _like you," she retorts.

"A liar. We're both liars," he answers, looking into her eyes. It's the brutal truth, and she can't hear anything but honesty behind him.

Maybe she's finally met her match.

* * *

They begin to talk, and she realizes he's right. He's hardly like what the girls describe him to be. He's loud and snarky and possibly the most flirty man she's ever come across.

But he's also true, and hard-working, and has the nicest laugh she's ever heard.

So she decides he's not all that bad.

* * *

"How'd you know?" she asks him one day, by the lake.

"Know what?" he asks back, skipping a rock over the surface. The water ripples, breaking the picture perfect reflection on the lake and for a glimpse, she could see the darkness underneath.

"Know that I'm not what I put out to be," she says.

He turns his head to look over at her, and for a moment, she sees something flicker inside his eyes. "There's no way anyone could be that perfect," he finally says. He then crouches down to pick up another pebble. It's small and oval with dents and blemishes and yet he skips it perfectly.

She stares at him, the pebble skipping across the water, and then back at him.

"Though I think," he continues, looking up to the stormy sky, before down at her with a slight smile. "I think I like the real you better."

Her eyes widen, before her mouth tightens into a thin line. Quickly, she tousles her hair into a mess and smears her make-up around.

"How about now?" she asks. "Don't lie. There's no way you could like the real me, the me I am right now."

"And why not?" he asks.

"Because I'm ugly. I'm disgusting. I'm manipulative," she admits. "People only care about my appearance though, right? That's why I always have to wear a mask. Nobody could ever love me without my mask-"

He bends down, takes a hold of her face, and kisses her. She's frozen, her eyes clenched shut with tears threatening to fall out.

His lips are warm against the chilly lake wind.

He breaks away but continues to hold her, his eyes searching hers. She feels naked without her facade up.

"Why," she chokes, tears falling. He begins to wipe away the tears and the make-up, uncovering the acne and blemishes that she so desperately tried to hide underneath. "Why?"

"Love," he says. "Love is learning the imperfections of someone and still loving them just the same."

Her porcelain mask drops and shatters, and suddenly it's the masquerade she always dreamed of as a girl, with the man holding her, his stormy eyes the only thing she can see as he steals her heart.

"Take it off," she says, as he kisses her over and over again.

"Take off what?" he asks lowly.

"My mask. Your mask. All the masks."

He sighs, giving her a small smile. "I never wore my mask around you."

She can see all of him now, and he can see all of her. She feels exposed and wonderful and like she might be able to fly too.

* * *

The next day she doesn't bother to put on any make-up and he tells her she's beautiful.

* * *

A/N: I feel like this is kind of confusing and wraps around its self.


End file.
